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  <title>Chapter 24</title>
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            <h1 class="title">Chapter 24</h1>
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          <h2 class="subtitle">Marcus</h2>
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      <p class="first first-in-chapter first-full-width"><span class="first-letter first-letter-m">M</span>arcus and Sterlyn shared a grim look when the female lost consciousness in their master’s grip. Hatred gnawed at Marcus’s gut—for himself and his weakness, as much as for the man who’d kept him on his knees for the last fifty years. He hated that he didn’t dare intervene on behalf of the female dragon—Lukas and Iszak’s mate. But to do so would condemn their sister, and he would die before letting anything worse happen to Evie. Belah had survived this man once—she would survive him again.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Without a word, Nikhil reached out a freshly bloodied palm to Sterlyn and the other Elite went to him, obedient as always. Sterlyn’s own lover was locked up in a cell as well. Neither Marcus nor his brother Elites had a choice but to do Nikhil’s bidding, or else risk their loved ones coming to grave harm. Their <i>Sayid</i> made sure they knew it well.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Within a split second of Sterlyn grasping his master’s hand and their fresh blood mingling, they were gone—fading into the <i>drift</i>—and the naked, unconscious woman along with them, ropes and all.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Marcus stared at the empty space for a long time, grinding his teeth and seething. Soon the utter silence shocked him out of his mood.</p>
      <p class="subsq">It wasn’t just the room that was silent. His mind was, too. He blinked at his reflection in the windows, afraid to test the foreign feeling of having his mind completely to himself again for the first time in ages. And yet it was. The itch of having a second consciousness creeping around inside his brain had disappeared, along with his master.</p>
      <p class="subsq">There was one way he could test it—one way he could be sure Nikhil was no longer lurking. Marcus risked closing his eyes and drawing forth the image of Evie. Her beauty filled his mind—her creamy skin and beautiful voice. Dark eyes, framed by even darker lashes, peered up at him full of love. Her slight, delicate body was soft in his arms, her skin burned several degrees warmer than his—she had always felt feverish. And before his eyes her glorious wings spread, soft feathers shimmering, silver, gold, and copper in the sunlight. It was a manufactured image—part memory of their first meeting, and part memory of their last time together when she’d unfurled her wings while they made love.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Marcus held his breath, waiting with dread for his favorite image of Evie to corrupt. For her beautiful feathers to be coated in her own blood. He’d had one night with her in fifty years. He thought they’d gotten away with it, but Nikhil had found out afterward, tortured Evie, and threatened Marcus with her death if he ever dared go near her again without Nikhil’s permission.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Ever since that night, even bringing to mind his most treasured memories of her would devolve into images of her torture—visions he’d never actually seen with his own eyes, but that he knew were true. Every time he pictured that night, he’d hear Nikhil’s voice and the things he’d said to Evie while he hurt her.</p>
      <p class="subsq">The bloody visions didn’t come this time.</p>
      <p class="subsq">A rough groan from behind Marcus dampened his joy. He’d been ready to go to her right then—to take advantage of the unexpected freedom from his mental shackles and be with her once more. Instead, he turned and met the enraged looks of the two men who probably hated him the most in all the world, and who would likely hate him even more after what he had to tell them now.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Marcus gritted his teeth and faced Evie’s brothers.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Where the fuck did that bastard take her?!” Iszak snarled, straining at his bindings.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Lukas shook his head and spat blood onto the floor. “When I get out of here, I’m fucking destroying you, Marcus.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“I guess you really don’t want to be untied, then, do you?” Marcus asked. “Because fuck if I’m going to let you out after a threat like that. Not that either of you could hurt me any more than you could hurt my master, if you found him. I did you guys a favor by tying you up. Interfere with his plans for your mate, and he’ll kill you.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">A chilly breeze blew past, cooling the sweat on his skin that had sprung up earlier when he’d first tied Iszak to the post. The window panes creaked from some storm battering at them outside. Behind him, one of them gave way, its latch springing free and the hinges squealing when it flew open with a crash that shattered the glass.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Cold, wet wind hit his back hard enough to plaster his shirt to his skin—hard enough to throw him off balance, if he were any other man. The furniture was pushed several inches across the floor from the force of the wind, but Marcus stayed put, staring down both North brothers in turn.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Un-fucking-tie us if you don’t want to be ripped apart by the wind, you fuck,” Lukas said.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“I will, but not until you listen to me. Belah wasn’t lying about Evie, and you know it. You know what else she wasn’t lying about? How much I would give to make sure your sister’s safely away from that bastard. I didn’t become what I am willingly. He <i>made</i> me this, and I have to come to terms with that. But that doesn’t mean she has to keep suffering. If you want your sister back, you have to promise me you’ll come with me tonight to get her out. Say yes and I’ll untie you both and take you to Evie now.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“But Belah,” Iszak growled. “He has her.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Marcus shot the bound man a wan smile. “He does, doesn’t he? And you haven’t ever had the pleasure of witnessing what he does to every single female Blue dragon he captures.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“What do you mean?” Lukas asked.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“That’s what she promised him when they met last week. She gives him her body, just like old times, and he returns her son to her. She’ll spend her time with him just as trussed up as you guys had her, except it’ll be a bit more bloody. Though I hear that’s what she used to go for, back when the pair of them were hot and heavy. Maybe being immortal like she is made it harder for her to get off on vanilla sex—I have no idea.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Fuck!” Lukas yelled, and Iszak let out an accompanying bellow of profanity that made Marcus’s ears ring even more. More windows crashed open, more glass shattered.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Tell us where they both are, you son of a bitch, and you’ll be lucky if you survive us once we’re free.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Marcus shook his head, knowing what an impossible choice he’d offered them.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Knowing their locations isn’t enough. Belah’s somewhere in the city still. Not far from here, in fact. Evie’s at the Alexandria Institute’s Canadian headquarters, about two thousand miles away in the mountains along the border of British Columbia. She’s safe enough where she is, as long as Nikhil’s nowhere nearby. I can take you both to her in a second, if that’s what you want.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Let us the fuck out of these ropes and take us to them both.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“That’s the thing, though—I can only take you to Evie now. I can’t take you to Belah. Where he’s got her, no one else can go—not until he’s done with her. He has her inside a temporal bubble. Without knowing <i>when</i> they are, I can’t get in. Sterlyn’s the only one who knows. Trust me, I know exactly how fucked this situation is. I’ve spent the last fifty years wishing like hell I could get Evie out of there. Put yourselves in my shoes, guys. There’s no way we can get to Belah right now, so you might as well come help me get Evie out. Help me save your sister. Please.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">The brothers shared a long look, and the tempest in the room gradually calmed as the pair seemed to come to some silent agreement.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Untie us, Marcus,” Iszak said, his voice rough with emotion, but at least at a reasonable volume. “We’ll figure this shit out somehow.”</p>
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